The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-01-25

the room, and the idea occurred to
me that il would be well to
light n fire. / lit it; it was the
first OF the year And 1 sat down
once more, watching the flame. But
soon the impossibility OF remaining
quiet in any one position forced me
to get up again, and felt that | would
have to 90 out somewhere to stir my.
self, to find n friend.
| went out. First | visited tn.
houses OF three different friends, no
one OF whom was at home then Invent
on the boulevard, resolved to find some
acquaintance or other
1t was dismal everywhere. The wet
sidewalks were shining. A watery
lukewarmness-one of those luke.
warmnesses which nevertheless chill
you with sudden shivers, the weighty
lukewarmness OF impalpable rain
seemed to bear down over the whole
street, and to make the gas jets burn
YEARLY and dim.
walked along sluggishly, saying
over and over again to myself, 81
won't find anybody to talk to-"
Several times looked into all the
cafes between La Madeleine and the
FAubourg Poissonniere. Only mser.
able looking people, who did not seem
to have vim enough to finish what
they had ordered, were sitting at the
tables.
wandered about in this way for Il
long time, and about midnight | took
my way home. was quite calm, but
very tired. My concierge; who always
goes to bed before IL O'Clock, opened
the door for me at once, contrary to
his usual habit, and thought to my
self: "Hello! some other ledger must
have gone up stairs"
Whenever 60 out ! always double
lock my door. This time / simply
found it pulled to, and the fact i'm.
pressed me. thought that perhaps
some letters might have been brought
up stairs during the evening.
went in. My fire was still burning,
even brightly enough to light up the
apartment. took the candle in or.
der to kindle it at the CRATE, when as ]
looked right before me, l saw some
one sitting in my easy chair, with his
ing his feet at the fire.
was not startled at all-no, not
the least in the world. A very nat.
ural supposition occurred to me,
namely, that one of my friends had
come to pay me visit. The concierge,
to whom i had given instructions
when went out, had naturally told
the visitor that | would soon be back,
and had lent his own key. And then
all the other Incidents OF my return
flashed drought my mind in a second
the opening OF the door at once, my
own door simply pulled to, etc.
My friend, whose hair alone could
see over the back OF the chair, had
evidently dropped asleep while wait
ing for my return, and proceeded to
wake him up. ] then got q distinct
view OF him; his right al m hung down;
his feet were crossed one over the 9th
er, and the way his head dropped, o
little to the left OF the arm chair,
showed plainly enough that he was
asleep. / asked myself, Who is it?
Anyhow the light in Lheroom was not
strong enough to see perfectly by. ]
put out my hand to touch his shoulder.
My hand touched only the wood ol
the chair Nobody was there! The
chair was emptyl
Mercyl what q shock it gave me.
First / leaped back rs il some terrible
peril had made itself visible. Then
turned round, feeling that somebody
was behind me; then, almost as quick
.ly, an imperative desire to look at
that chair again made me wheel
round n second time, and | stood
there painting with fear-so bewi!dered
MS to be incapable Of thinking, on the
very point OF falling.
But am by nature cool man, and
my self-possession soon returned.
thought to myself: al have just had
n hallucination-that is ALL" And |
Immediately began to reflect on the
phenomenon. In such moments tho
mind operates very rapidly.
/ had had Northumberland was
an incontestable fact. Now my mind
had all the time remained clear, per-
forming its functions regularly and
logically. There was consequently no
real affection OF the brain. The eyes
alone had been deluded, and had de-
luded my imagination. The eyes had
a vision-one OF those visions that
make simple minded folks believe in
miracles. 1t was simply a nervous
accident to the optical apparatus
nothing more; perhaps there was a
slight congestion.
And | lighted my candle. As / bent
down over the fire / found myself
trembling, and drew myself up again